Chapter six focuses on what it means to be a columnist and how it differs from general editorial writing.
Being a columnist is the most coveted job in journalism, according to Conrad Fink, who says that it is also one of the hardest jobs to acquire.
To be selected as a columnist, the editor of the paper must determine that there is enough space available in the paper, you have strong writing and reporting skills and that you have an opinion that people will want to read.
While it is still difficult to become a columnist, the opportunities are increasing because readers are becoming more and more selective and savvy in what they read. They want to know how the news affects them.
To achieve this, editors are using more columnists to deliver news-analysis without the typical left wing or right wing slants--but rather a populist one favoured by the columnist.
Column writing also differs from editorials in the use of personal experience and anecdotes to deliver a point. Writers such as the late Lewis Grizzard of the Atlanta Journal-Constituion were experts at but life stories and hyperbole to bring across an important message in an entertaining way.
They will attempt to write stories in differing ways in order to increase their audience and marketability.
However, columnists must not fall into the trap of using overly light language when dealing will certain serious or tragic subjects.
This again is where they can interject themselves and the stories of others to reach people.
Columnists also share the similarities to other journalists already mentioned--they must have strong reporting skills, solid background knowledge on the subjects they write about and reliable sources so they can deliver hard-hitting news in a timely manner.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Chapter five summary
Chapter five focuses on opinion writing for magazines and how it differs from daily or weekly newspapers.
Magazines writing has to be approched differently because they go to press less often. The news will not be as timely, and, as a result, should focus on either looking forward or news summary and anylisis writing.
There are several different types of magazines that are important to opinion writers: news-magazines i.e. Time, consumer magazines such as The New Yorker business magazines like The Economist and trade magazines for various industries.
Magazine readers also affect how writers approach stories. Studies show the average magazine reader is around 40-years-old, and spends about 52 minutes reading a magazine during liesure time in the home or a doctor's office.
Magazine readers are also typically more familiar with the subject matter covered by their publication of choice. Because of this, writer's should know their subject matter quite well and write for insiders--"There is no need to explain air flaps in an editorial for Aviation Week & Space Technology."
Lastly, magazines vary widely in tone and style.
Some trade magazines praise their industries and businesses while others critique. Some business and news magazines do not take institutional sides and others focus solely on one type of political ideal.
Magazines writing has to be approched differently because they go to press less often. The news will not be as timely, and, as a result, should focus on either looking forward or news summary and anylisis writing.
There are several different types of magazines that are important to opinion writers: news-magazines i.e. Time, consumer magazines such as The New Yorker business magazines like The Economist and trade magazines for various industries.
Magazine readers also affect how writers approach stories. Studies show the average magazine reader is around 40-years-old, and spends about 52 minutes reading a magazine during liesure time in the home or a doctor's office.
Magazine readers are also typically more familiar with the subject matter covered by their publication of choice. Because of this, writer's should know their subject matter quite well and write for insiders--"There is no need to explain air flaps in an editorial for Aviation Week & Space Technology."
Lastly, magazines vary widely in tone and style.
Some trade magazines praise their industries and businesses while others critique. Some business and news magazines do not take institutional sides and others focus solely on one type of political ideal.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Chapter four summary
Chapter four focuses on writing editorial stories.
The differences in editorial stories and news stories is primarily in advocacy and opinion rather than objective 'he said, she said' coverage of what happened the day before.
The Editorial page of a newspaper is meant to be a public forum for the readers to not only learn about the advantages or problems with a proposed change in local policy, but a chance to weigh in on the decisions themselves.
This can be accomplished through letters to the editor, polls and word on the street interviews.
For the Editorial page to succeed in this mission, it needs good writers. As mentioned in chapter one, good opinion writers are good reporters. They also need to know good writing techniques--ways to draw the reader into their stories.
There are several ways to accomplish this: the 'neck of the vase method' for instance where a writer will focus in on a single incident or person before revealing a larger problem or trend.
The 'imagine with me' structure invites the reader to join the writer in a described personal experiance scenario in order to leave a vivid idea in the reader's mind.
Other techniqus such as the 'Question' or 'We're all in this together' structures give editorial writers a way to pull the reader in and point out the need for change or attention to be paid to a certain issue.
Regardless of the technique used, an editorial writer needs to make sure his story accoplishes three things: SEA--stimulate, explain and advocate.
While traditional news stories answer who, what, when, where, why and sometimes how, the editorial needs to say why it is important to the reader--what it means to them.
The differences in editorial stories and news stories is primarily in advocacy and opinion rather than objective 'he said, she said' coverage of what happened the day before.
The Editorial page of a newspaper is meant to be a public forum for the readers to not only learn about the advantages or problems with a proposed change in local policy, but a chance to weigh in on the decisions themselves.
This can be accomplished through letters to the editor, polls and word on the street interviews.
For the Editorial page to succeed in this mission, it needs good writers. As mentioned in chapter one, good opinion writers are good reporters. They also need to know good writing techniques--ways to draw the reader into their stories.
There are several ways to accomplish this: the 'neck of the vase method' for instance where a writer will focus in on a single incident or person before revealing a larger problem or trend.
The 'imagine with me' structure invites the reader to join the writer in a described personal experiance scenario in order to leave a vivid idea in the reader's mind.
Other techniqus such as the 'Question' or 'We're all in this together' structures give editorial writers a way to pull the reader in and point out the need for change or attention to be paid to a certain issue.
Regardless of the technique used, an editorial writer needs to make sure his story accoplishes three things: SEA--stimulate, explain and advocate.
While traditional news stories answer who, what, when, where, why and sometimes how, the editorial needs to say why it is important to the reader--what it means to them.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Chapter three summary
Chapter three goes into greater detail about the reporter skills necessary to be a good editorialist, and the differences in news values between a good straight news story and a good editorial.
The same values apply to each: impact, proximity, conflict, prominence and timeliness. However, timeliness has less value in an editorial than a spot news story.
A case study mentioned in the chapter about domestic violence emphasizes this point. The story of Jeanmie Purcell's murder was quickly reported, but a larger editorial about domestic abuse in Kentucky written by Maria Henson was not published until 13 months later after extensive research and interviews had been conducted.
The next tip listed in the chapter was going directly to sources for facts.
The internet and secondary sources (such as newspaper morgues) are unreliable as the information they contain may have errors. The best way to find solid facts is through interviews and primary source research while keeping the focus of the editorial on people.
The final topic of the chapter was on challenges the newspaper media faces. The general public views the media to be primarily liberal (or in some recent cases very right-wing).
This causes mistrust in the public, and causes doubt on whether a reported can rise above his or her political views when writing a story. Added to this difficulty is the trouble some people have in differentiating between straight news articles and opinion pieces.
The best way to counter these obstacles is through balanced views of issues while not pulling punches.
The same values apply to each: impact, proximity, conflict, prominence and timeliness. However, timeliness has less value in an editorial than a spot news story.
A case study mentioned in the chapter about domestic violence emphasizes this point. The story of Jeanmie Purcell's murder was quickly reported, but a larger editorial about domestic abuse in Kentucky written by Maria Henson was not published until 13 months later after extensive research and interviews had been conducted.
The next tip listed in the chapter was going directly to sources for facts.
The internet and secondary sources (such as newspaper morgues) are unreliable as the information they contain may have errors. The best way to find solid facts is through interviews and primary source research while keeping the focus of the editorial on people.
The final topic of the chapter was on challenges the newspaper media faces. The general public views the media to be primarily liberal (or in some recent cases very right-wing).
This causes mistrust in the public, and causes doubt on whether a reported can rise above his or her political views when writing a story. Added to this difficulty is the trouble some people have in differentiating between straight news articles and opinion pieces.
The best way to counter these obstacles is through balanced views of issues while not pulling punches.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Chapter two summary
An editorialist has to know what they are talking about and who they are talking to. To do this, writers should develop a field of expertise--such as technology, sports writing or local politics and write to a specific audience.
The audience is the writer's primary concern. If no one reads the column, then it is wasted space on newsprint. The editorial board's job is to know who their audience is by analyzing them demographically and psycho-graphically.
Demographic groups of people are divided by factors such as age, race, location and income. Psycho-graphic groups are divided among those with common interests such as hobbies, political alignments and religions.
Editorialists pick a target audience which they can reach through their medium, then write about current issues which affect them.
The sun exploding in one billion years will interest no one alive today, but the county raising property taxes will. It is important to remember that the best way to find the issues that people are interested in is to walk and talk with people within the local community.
The audience is the writer's primary concern. If no one reads the column, then it is wasted space on newsprint. The editorial board's job is to know who their audience is by analyzing them demographically and psycho-graphically.
Demographic groups of people are divided by factors such as age, race, location and income. Psycho-graphic groups are divided among those with common interests such as hobbies, political alignments and religions.
Editorialists pick a target audience which they can reach through their medium, then write about current issues which affect them.
The sun exploding in one billion years will interest no one alive today, but the county raising property taxes will. It is important to remember that the best way to find the issues that people are interested in is to walk and talk with people within the local community.
Chapter one summary
Chapter one summarizes the basic news values and principles, and the key differences between standard news writing and editorial writing.
A writer's first responsibility is to the public. As a columnist, this means taking a specific side on an issue--supporting one candidate over another, supporting or attacking a proposed plan, fully explaining why and sticking with it. The writer must cover both sides of the issue to do this, or they risk being ignored.
A good editorialist is a good reporter. This means he or she must have experience as a journalist in order to make judgment calls on issues to support or not.
Columnists, like all journalists, must avoid conflicts of interest and quickly bring to light any errors in reporting in order to maintain the public's trust.
There are several things to consider beyond what issues to write about.
Columnists must realize that pain will be involved in their writing. They will draw anger towards themselves--or occasionally cause emotional distress for the friends and family of public figures under scrutiny.
This is an inevitable part of writing. It is the writer's job to determine how to minimize harm and create the most benefit possible for the largest number of people (such as using the utilitarian standard).
A writer's first responsibility is to the public. As a columnist, this means taking a specific side on an issue--supporting one candidate over another, supporting or attacking a proposed plan, fully explaining why and sticking with it. The writer must cover both sides of the issue to do this, or they risk being ignored.
A good editorialist is a good reporter. This means he or she must have experience as a journalist in order to make judgment calls on issues to support or not.
Columnists, like all journalists, must avoid conflicts of interest and quickly bring to light any errors in reporting in order to maintain the public's trust.
There are several things to consider beyond what issues to write about.
Columnists must realize that pain will be involved in their writing. They will draw anger towards themselves--or occasionally cause emotional distress for the friends and family of public figures under scrutiny.
This is an inevitable part of writing. It is the writer's job to determine how to minimize harm and create the most benefit possible for the largest number of people (such as using the utilitarian standard).
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